By Ridge Mahoney

The MLS flagship franchise has been sunk, and as its fluttering colors sink below the waves, the recriminations begin.

Heading into Saturday night's battle with FC Dallas (16-11-4) at Pizza Hut Park, the Galaxy trailed fourth-place Colorado by three points and needed at least a tie to keep its playoff dreams. The defending champion (10-15-6) couldn't muster even a point, falling, 2-1, to goals by Carlos Ruiz (13th goal of the season) and Kenny Cooper (11th), to miss the playoffs for the first time and join D.C. United (2000) as champions failing to qualify the following season.

Landon Donovan (10th goal) neatly finished a superb diagonal cross from Chris Albright to make the final 20 minutes interesting, but the Galaxy had fallen behind in the first half and conceded a second goal early in the second period to assure its quest would be as difficult as possible. The Dallas victory renders the season finale between the teams at Home Depot Center next Saturday as irrelevant to the postseason.

Colorado (11-13-7) did get a point, tying Red Bull New York, 1-1, to maintain a two-point cushion over Real Salt Lake (10-13-8) which also tied, 1-1, with Houston. Colorado holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Salt Lake, 2-1-1, so if the Rapids get a point at Houston in their season finale Saturday night, they clinch the spot no matter what Real does the following night against Chivas USA, which locked up its own postseason berth despite losing, 2-1, in Kansas City.

The Rapids took the lead in the fourth minute when Jacob Peterson followed up a Thiago Martins dribble that had been thwarted and shot low for his third goal of the season; Amado Guevara (5th goal) equalized on the hour with a fierce finish after Chris Henderson had scraped his way into the penalty area and kept the play alive. If the Red Bulls (8-11-12) beat Kansas City Saturday at home, they leapfrog the Wizards into fourth place.

Jose Burciaga's remarkable season added another entry with a goal and an assist (he has eight in both categories) as Kansas City (10-13-8) downed Chivas USA. A bending Burciaga cross was headed into the net by Dave van den Bergh for a 1-0 lead, and after a Claudio Suarez penalty kick tied the game, Burciaga stepped up to the spot to drill the winner.

Paul Dalglish, a late-season addition to the Dynamo roster, scored his first goal for Houston (11-8-12) and rookie Mehdi Ballouchy replied with the second of his pro career for RSL. Ballouchy, who is fasting during the daytime in observance of Ramadan, had replaced Kevin Nowak just three minutes before scoring in the 60th minute. Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear rested Alejandro Moreno and used Dwayne DeRosario as a sub for the final 17 minutes.

Andy Dorman registered two assists as the Revs (11-8-12) rallied from a 1-0 deficit to beat D.C. United, 2-1, at RFK. Christian Gomez polished off a flowing D.C. (15-6-10) sequence to open the scoring in the 26th minute with his 12th goal, only for Clint Dempsey to score the tying goal eight minutes later by intercepting a Dorman pass intended for Taylor Twellman and knifing into the box. Twellman headed the winner (his 11th) two minutes into the second half by diving to meet a Dorman corner that had been flicked on by Jay Heaps, who also rescued his team with a nimble clearance from under the crossbar of a Gomez blast.

Already-eliminated Columbus stormed into Toyota Park to hand Chicago (12-11-8) a 4-1 thumping that dropped it into third place with a match to play. Chris Armas twisted past two defenders and tight-roped the byline to serve a ball Chris Rolfe fired into the net for a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute. From then on, Columbus (8-14-9) made the big plays backed by Andy Gruenebaum's clutch saves. Jason Garey, Eddie Gaven and each had a goal and an assist, and Ricardo Virtuoso tallied his first MLS goal.

The Revs lead the Fire by a point in the chase for second place and homefield advantage in the playoffs. New England hosts the Crew on Saturday; the Fire travels to D.C. United next Sunday.

MLS STANDINGS
Eastern Conference
Team W-L-T PTS
*D.C. United 15-6-10 55
*New England 11-8-12 45
*Chicago 12-11-8 44
Kansas City 10-13-8 38
New York 8-11-12 36
Columbus 8-14-9 33

Western Conference
Team W-L-T PTS
*FC Dallas 16-11-4 52
*Houston 11-8-12 45
*Chivas USA 10-9-12 42
Colorado 11-13-7 40
Real Salt Lake 10-13-8 38
Los Angeles 10-15-6 36
*Clinched playoff berth,